hello I am Lee Bowling Program Consultant

for Title Four Part A with the Kentucky

Department of Education this webinar

will assist districts with the

stakeholder engagement component of

Title Four Part A funds. Communities and

family engagement can make a great

partnership with your Title Four Part A

program.

Every Student Succeeds Act requires

districts receiving Title Four Part A

funds to consult and engage stakeholders

in their community and maintain

corresponding documentation of

meaningful and ongoing communication.

Their feedback can help with preparing

students for success after graduation.

Stakeholders can be unique for each

district. They can vary in size depending

on the size of the district. Some of the

groups that should be included are

parents and families, students, district

and school-level educators,

community-based organizations, private

non-public school partners, local

business leaders, physical and behavioral

health professionals and elected

officials.  It is important to

remember to include your students as

part of the group. Their feedback can be

very valuable. Some of the reasons the

community and family members do not get

involved with your district could be: one,

time constraints, for example select days

and times when people would be able to

attend the meeting. Two, travel or distance

can be an obstacle for participation.

Sometimes stakeholders are not able to

travel to the meeting. And three, people

can be unsure what is expected of them

at the meeting perhaps post the agenda

on the district website or attach the

agenda to an email invitation.

In rural communities stakeholders may

need to travel long distances to

participate in a face-to-face meetings. So

districts should offer different

opportunities to engage such as hosting

meetings at different locations in the

district. For example not always having

the meeting at the local high school

instead select other venues in the

community for some upcoming scheduled

meetings. Different times selected for

meetings to give all stakeholders the

opportunity to attend. Perhaps hold one

meeting at 4:00 p.m. and another meeting

at 6:00 p.m. on different days also do

not forget about the daytime meetings

for stay-at-home parents and business

people. Maybe hosting a breakfast buddy

where students can invite a buddy to

breakfast and the school or district can

hold a meeting afterwards. In addition to

always having a face-to-face meeting

consider online meetings, social media

platforms, surveys webinars or virtual

meetings. It is good to think outside the

box in order to have more participation

in the stakeholder meetings. If you

record the meeting post it on the

district homepage for others watch later.

For example, advertise your meeting on

the district or campus social media

pages and other media outlets. It is

important to promote the meeting a few

weeks in advance also post reminders

about the meeting a few times and

encourage everyone to save the date.

Let stake holders know the meeting will

be live streamed on social media. This is

an excellent way for parents to be part

of the meeting without the worry of

transportation or childcare. It also

allows stakeholders who may be out of

town the opportunity to participate and

provide input.

In-person meetings should be scheduled

far in advance at locations people can

easily access. Consider hosting meetings

at alternative locations such as

community centers, places of worship

and/or libraries. It is permissible to

have light refreshments at the meeting

but not complete dinners or a banquet.

Stakeholder activities should actively

involve parents, guardians, and families.

Districts should use existing family

engagement opportunities such as

parent-teacher conferences and other

school events such as athletic events

that would draw many people from the

public to the location. If there is a

special event scheduled at the school

consider having a meeting simultaneously

since the public will already be at the

school the goal is to encourage as many

people as possible to attend the meeting.

Also consider providing tutoring

services and/or childcare during the

meeting that way if parents bring their

children they can have tutoring while

the meeting is in progress. Try not to

have the meeting on the same day at the

same time consistently. There should be

varied days and times for the meetings

also do not forget about daytime

meetings for stay-at-home parents and

business people. The meeting should never

feel like a lecture. It should be

informal with an open floor for

discussion in which everyone is

comfortable participating and

brainstorming ideas and suggestions.

Please keep the meeting informational and

light. Your speakers should be

comfortable talking in front of a group.

Never let one person dominate the

conversation. Give everyone the

opportunity to speak. Please do not use

acronyms or verbage that would be

unfamiliar to the group.

It's a good idea to provide an agenda so

everyone can see what topics are going

to be covered during the meeting.

Consider having an opinion written

section that allows everyone the

opportunity to submit suggestions in

writing just in case someone is

uncomfortable speaking in front of the

group. Also remember your audience. You

may need someone who is bilingual at the

meeting. Be sure to include students,

parents of children with disabilities, as

well as English learners, guardians of

children in foster care and students

affected by homelessness. Please do not

overlook your students. All districts

should encourage student feedback and

student opinion. For example use any

information collected from students

regarding issues that are affecting them

in their classes or at their school.

Districts should engage students through

in-school opportunities such as student

government representatives, student

councils,

their homeroom, any interactive classes

and most especially extracurricular

activities. When students are practicing

extracurricular activities after school,

that is an excellent time to get their

feedback on everything from cleanliness

of the school to curriculum and school

resources. The goal is for students to

feel included and know their voice

matters when discussing issues that

affect their own school or class. This is

especially important for middle and high

school students when students know their

opinion does matter it can help to

promote a student's self-esteem.

Please remember documentation is

extremely important. Districts should

have all meetings documented. Acceptable

forms of documentation that KDE reviews

are: agendas, sign-in sheets and typed

meeting minutes. All ongoing

communication should always be documented. 

Keep in mind, only

having an agenda for a meeting is not

enough documentation to remain in

compliance.

For example, emailing the meeting minutes

to all stakeholder members after the

meeting. This will allow all members to

review the notes if they were unable to

attend. They can still provide feedback

via email.

There should be updates to suggestions

and recommendations made by the

committee.

If the meeting was not documented

correctly it did not happen. It is also a

good idea to have a couple of people

taking notes during the meeting to be

sure all activity and discussions are

documented. Please feel free to reach out

to us any time we are always here to

assist. If you have any questions about

stakeholder engagement please reach out

to us at KDE.